LaTrobe University Lesson Plan Format Lecture Review by Richard Gay
Pete Sanders this week thankfully introduced us to the La Trobe University Lesson Plan Format, to everyone’s rapt attention. This is a key tool for us to use in the development of lesson plans both as pre service teachers, for assessment in subjects this year, in our practicum, and as serving teachers next year. The lecture and Powerpoints introduced us to VELS and thoroughly reviewed the document which is in a logical format. VELS are organised into Strands such as Discipline based learning, within in which are Domains like Maths within which are Dimensions such as Space for Math. Each domain has a learning focus and learning standards. The Progression Points show the level that students should be at as they progress between the VELS levels.
The attached Lesson Plan is annotated. Additionally: ·Learning Purpose is to guide both the students and the teacher, must be clear and explicit and can be a mixture of the practical and the theoretical ·VELS - know thoroughly, standard, levels, foci and progression points. ·Engagement should be 10 to 15minutes, link to previous learning, everyday life, society, have explicit questions to draw students in. Teachers should have key points to take to the lesson and key questions to ask during the lesson. ·Procedure see annotation ·Pulling it together – avoid show and tell; chance for students to provide feedback/report back; don’t simply give answers to students – draw it out of them ensure link made to learning objectives; ·Group set up - cater for different learning styles
Use roving eye. Don’t stream, used mixed ability grouping. Failing to plan is planning to fail. VELS Strands, Domains, Dimensions What's Worth Knowing? Postman and Weingartner (1972). Reviewed by Svetlana Spaseska This article discusses the effects of removing a school curriculum that consists of textbooks and tests, and asking teachers to work with a curriculum that only consists of questions. The questions do not only have to come from the teachers, they can be questions that the students have and want answers to. This way of teaching would be more interactive for both students and teachers.
The students will generally respond well to these types of questions as they are different to the normal questions that they are used to. We learn more about things that are already stored in our memory, meaning that if the students already have meaning stored up then they will be able to understand things better. Their memory will re-order and re-classify all that new and old information. Therefore it will be easier to learn about something that you have previously heard of.
The new questions may help with this type of learning as, students may ask questions about things that they are curious about. Teachertools: Questioning techniques by Alison Harvey This was the lecture we had all been waiting for! So many of our assignments required us to prepare lesson plans and we were unaware of how they should be done, so it was a relief when Greg swapped weeks with Pete and we could begin to feel confident in preparing our assignments. The plans are very straightforward, and going through them in the workshop afterward helped too. We are always being told that preparation is the key to confident teaching and you cannot do too much preparation - although it shouldn't take longer to plan the lesson than it will to deliver.
I looked at the Teachertools: Questioning website and slideshow, which confirmed for me the importance of preparation in asking the right questions. From my experience of visiting my children's school to demonstrate science experiments, asking questions gave me an idea of their level of knowledge so I could increase their understanding without boring them with too much repetition of prior knowledge. It also generated a discussion afterwards so they felt involved in the demonstrations. The website showed me that the questions I ask should be open-ended and not yes/no or short answer questions.The types of questions can be influenced by Bloom's taxonomy which would then encourage the different order thinkers in the class.
"Teachers need to become effective at asking questions and students need to know what a good question is." (Teachertools: Questioning techniques)
Blooms Taxonomy by Richard Gay Blooms taxonomy gives us a useful way to think about what questions to ask at different levels of complexity. To engage the students and encourage deeper thought about: ·Knowledge - recall of facts - describe what happened? ·Comprehension - understanding - what was the main idea? ·Application - allow students to apply their knowledge and understanding to solve problems or to create something - can you apply the method learned to some experience of your own? ·Analysis - students take apart concepts or ideas to identify patterns or relationships - what was the turning point in the game? ·Synthesis - use understanding of concepts to create the new and original - can you create new and unusual uses for...? ·Evaluation - students make critical judgements, positions and justifications - how effective are..?
I beleive that questions are 'at the core' of learning as it is often only through expression that we are clear about what we know and understand. Expressing thoughts either verbally or in writing is a creative act. It is a tool to ensure that students are not simply vessels to fill but creative, active and thoughtful people. Asking effective questions requires good planning. “Good learning starts with questions, not answers." Guy Claxton, Professor in Education and Director of CLIO Development University of Bristol
A tool kit for learning, Egan (2005). By Michelle Lotriet.The article I read compared real life tools and how we use them to the cognitive tools that students have available to increase there learning. The article spoke about how readily these tools are available to be used, but often they are over looked, or seen as not important. I will discuss some of the cognitive tools that I found the most interesting or though would be most useful in a classroom situation:-Rhyme, rhythm, and pattern: I found this an interesting point, as I am aware rhyme, rhythm and pattern are very important for cultures that do not have a written language. Since we have a written language should we just disregard rhyme altogether? The article mentions the old rhyme to remember how many days there are in each month, and points out that even if we where to suddenly forget the rhyme we can always check on a calendar and this is true. However does this mean that rhyme is not important when teaching strategies to remember? I think rhyme could be very useful tool for helping older primary school children remember important information such as facts of 10.
-Jokes and humor: I thought this could be used as a very effective teaching tool, especially to teach concepts such as homophones. Even if the jokes that one can use is not the funniest in the world, they still draw attention to language, and lets face it bad jokes are the hardest to forget.
-Last but not least Mental imagery: I think this is a very important part of learning and should be incorporated into the class room. I myself think through images and as such know how useful it can be, especially in remembering.
However these tools should be used equally as not all students will find the same tools helpful, and never forget the power of language in teaching.
Pete Sanders this week thankfully introduced us to the La Trobe University Lesson Plan Format, to everyone’s rapt attention. This is a key tool for us to use in the development of lesson plans both as pre service teachers, for assessment in subjects this year, in our practicum, and as serving teachers next year. The lecture and Powerpoints introduced us to VELS and thoroughly reviewed the document which is in a logical format.
VELS are organised into Strands such as Discipline based learning, within in which are Domains like Maths within which are Dimensions such as Space for Math. Each domain has a learning focus and learning standards. The Progression Points show the level that students should be at as they progress between the VELS levels.
The attached Lesson Plan is annotated. Additionally:
· Learning Purpose is to guide both the students and the teacher, must be clear and explicit and can be a mixture of the practical and the theoretical
· VELS - know thoroughly, standard, levels, foci and progression points.
· Engagement should be 10 to 15minutes, link to previous learning, everyday life, society, have explicit questions to draw students in. Teachers should have key points to take to the lesson and key questions to ask during the lesson.
· Procedure see annotation
· Pulling it together – avoid show and tell; chance for students to provide feedback/report back; don’t simply give answers to students – draw it out of them ensure link made to learning objectives;
· Group set up - cater for different learning styles
Use roving eye. Don’t stream, used mixed ability grouping. Failing to plan is planning to fail.
VELS Strands, Domains, Dimensions
What's Worth Knowing? Postman and Weingartner (1972). Reviewed by Svetlana Spaseska
This article discusses the effects of removing a school curriculum that consists of textbooks and tests, and asking teachers to work with a curriculum that only consists of questions. The questions do not only have to come from the teachers, they can be questions that the students have and want answers to. This way of teaching would be more interactive for both students and teachers.
The students will generally respond well to these types of questions as they are different to the normal questions that they are used to. We learn more about things that are already stored in our memory, meaning that if the students already have meaning stored up then they will be able to understand things better. Their memory will re-order and re-classify all that new and old information. Therefore it will be easier to learn about something that you have previously heard of.
The new questions may help with this type of learning as, students may ask questions about things that they are curious about.
Teachertools: Questioning techniques by Alison Harvey
This was the lecture we had all been waiting for! So many of our assignments required us to prepare lesson plans and we were unaware of how they should be done, so it was a relief when Greg swapped weeks with Pete and we could begin to feel confident in preparing our assignments. The plans are very straightforward, and going through them in the workshop afterward helped too. We are always being told that preparation is the key to confident teaching and you cannot do too much preparation - although it shouldn't take longer to plan the lesson than it will to deliver.
I looked at the Teachertools: Questioning website and slideshow, which confirmed for me the importance of preparation in asking the right questions. From my experience of visiting my children's school to demonstrate science experiments, asking questions gave me an idea of their level of knowledge so I could increase their understanding without boring them with too much repetition of prior knowledge. It also generated a discussion afterwards so they felt involved in the demonstrations. The website showed me that the questions I ask should be open-ended and not yes/no or short answer questions.The types of questions can be influenced by Bloom's taxonomy which would then encourage the different order thinkers in the class.
"Teachers need to become effective at asking questions and students need to know what a good question is." (Teachertools: Questioning techniques)
Blooms Taxonomy by Richard Gay
Blooms taxonomy gives us a useful way to think about what questions to ask at different levels of complexity. To engage the students and encourage deeper thought about:
· Knowledge - recall of facts - describe what happened?
· Comprehension - understanding - what was the main idea?
· Application - allow students to apply their knowledge and understanding to solve problems or to create something - can you apply the method learned to some experience of your own?
· Analysis - students take apart concepts or ideas to identify patterns or relationships - what was the turning point in the game?
· Synthesis - use understanding of concepts to create the new and original - can you create new and unusual uses for...?
· Evaluation - students make critical judgements, positions and justifications - how effective are..?
I beleive that questions are 'at the core' of learning as it is often only through expression that we are clear about what we know and understand. Expressing thoughts either verbally or in writing is a creative act. It is a tool to ensure that students are not simply vessels to fill but creative, active and thoughtful people. Asking effective questions requires good planning.
“Good learning starts with questions, not answers."
Guy Claxton, Professor in Education and Director of CLIO Development University of Bristol
A tool kit for learning, Egan (2005). By Michelle Lotriet.The article I read compared real life tools and how we use them to the cognitive tools that students have available to increase there learning. The article spoke about how readily these tools are available to be used, but often they are over looked, or seen as not important. I will discuss some of the cognitive tools that I found the most interesting or though would be most useful in a classroom situation:-Rhyme, rhythm, and pattern: I found this an interesting point, as I am aware rhyme, rhythm and pattern are very important for cultures that do not have a written language. Since we have a written language should we just disregard rhyme altogether? The article mentions the old rhyme to remember how many days there are in each month, and points out that even if we where to suddenly forget the rhyme we can always check on a calendar and this is true. However does this mean that rhyme is not important when teaching strategies to remember? I think rhyme could be very useful tool for helping older primary school children remember important information such as facts of 10.
-Jokes and humor: I thought this could be used as a very effective teaching tool, especially to teach concepts such as homophones. Even if the jokes that one can use is not the funniest in the world, they still draw attention to language, and lets face it bad jokes are the hardest to forget.
-Last but not least Mental imagery: I think this is a very important part of learning and should be incorporated into the class room. I myself think through images and as such know how useful it can be, especially in remembering.
However these tools should be used equally as not all students will find the same tools helpful, and never forget the power of language in teaching.